Date Night | Rediscovering Our City

So recently M and I have discovered a new love for our city. It took something as simple (and necessary) as finding a regular babysitter so we can have a weekly date night. It’s sad to admit, but that was never something we did. When we did get out it was a quick dinner close by, eating predictable foods at the same old places. When we try to make plans ahead of time using yelp or other such sites we can never agree on anything, and nothing calls out to us. I guess we are both just more visual? But I still tried to take M to The Green Pig downtown. I have wanted to try it ever since researching places for M to go to watch the World Cup and heard that they had great breakfast (restaurants that serve breakfast have a strange power over me). Of course we were going out at night, so the breakfast aspect of it was pretty much null, but it was still stuck in my head. However, when we wondered in, it was packed – apparently there was a U of U football game going on. We decided that fighting for a seat among all the red in the room was not for us. So we wondered. It only took one night of parking downtown and looking for a place to eat on foot that changed everything. Goodbye drive by’s and even yelp. There were so many places that peaked our interest. M found his new favorite place to stop in for fish tacos, called Bodega. I’m not kidding either. Within one week of discovering this place, he returned 4 times with different people each time. In total I would calculate a minimum of 20 orders of fish tacos and at least 7 bodega dogs could be attributed to him (though not necessary all consumed by M himself of course). Salt Lake City is very lovely and interesting city, and I had forgotten that.

So now that my new interest in Salt Lake City has been peaked, I’ve been itching to get out and do some shooting. So I packed the kids up one morning, parked at the Trax station and rode into the city. This was actually nerve wracking for me, I have to say. I wasn’t sure just how well this was going to go. It had been a long time since I had taken my kids to the city all alone (mall not included). Jonah is at the age where leaving him buckled into a stroller just doesn’t work anymore, and he has an extra battery pack built right into him that gives him unpredictable spurts of energy and speed. I love this about him, but it definitely required me to be on my game the entire time. Ezra just slept on my back most of the time, so that helped. We lasted just over two hours without a glitch.

After a while I started seeing signs to call it quits… signs can include: over confidence, over excitement, running ahead of mommy, or not being as quick to listen. All of which is normal in a three year old, however, being a mom comes with this incredible radar to see when your kid is crossing over the “normal” line into the “caution” side, especially if nap or meal time is also nearby. So we headed back to the trax line. If, as a parent you opt to ignore any of those signs because you yourself aren’t ready to go, well, so be it. But don’t be surprised when things go awry. Like me. All it took was for me to stop and take one more photo and kaboom!... Ever experienced a public breakdown or seen one? It’s not exactly my favorite thing in the world, but I do feel fairly proud of myself when I can maintain my composure in the face of a screaming child… and lets not forget the massive audience I have now gained. Not fun. Thankfully I came prepared with snacks and drinks and was able to distract him and we made it back home without any further drama. In fact, by the time I pulled up the drive way both were out cold.